How to make a healthy cat from a skin and bone cat?
April 22, 2012 Categories: Healthy Diet
Question by Mariah: How to make a healthy cat from a skin and bone cat?
We found a small petite cat outside of our new home a few days ago. She is extremely skinny and you can nearly see each bone in her body. She needs a lot of food and care and we begun feeding her as soon as she came around to us. So my question is how long should it take for her to reach a healthy weight for cats? Is there anything else we should do to get her healthy?
Best answer:
Answer by R P Cat
Your Answer:
First and very first thing is get her to the vet and have them analyze her and help you decide what to do. They will guide you in what is going on with her and what you can do to help her along. How long it will take depends on her condition and health.
R P CAT
Milk is not good for cats it upsets their tummy. There is a milk you can get at the pet store to give her. Never cows milk you will defeat what you are trying to do.
What do you think? Answer below!
feed little and often, do not give the cat large quantities at any one time as this can make the cat sick, cat milk is good for helping a cat to gain weight and depending on the size of the cat it can take any amount of time. Just give her lots of love and attention and you will see the weight gain on her as you do not want to rush this process it takes time
Hope this helps
Take her to the vet first and get her shots and find out if she has parasites. Skinny strays usually need de-wormed. Then keep her cool because cats don’t eat as much when it’s hot. You can try feeding kitten food until she gets back up to a healthy weight since it has more nutrition than adult formula.
Please take her to the vet to get checked out for all the common diseases that feral cats can have, many of them can cause low weight in cats. You will want to deworm her as well. It is very likely that she has worms and this will cause great weight loss. Once these things are done then just keep feeding her. Make sure its a high quality cat food that she really likes. Leave it out all the time so she can eat as she feels the need. She should fatten up to a healthy weight soon.
Kitten Science diet. Unless she isn’t a kitten, then they have different cat science diets. Indoor, Outdoor, Weight control (which she obviously doesn’t need), older cats. But my kitten gained anywhere from two to four pounds a week from when she was about 10 weeks to 16 weeks while on kitten dry food. She keeps a really healthy weigh right now. Wet food is always good, and a healthy treat for her.
First things first – she needs to see a vet to be wormed and flea treated, and also tested for FeLV and FIV. Some underweight cats are that way because they’ve been dumped outdoors, others also have some accompanying health issues like a heavy load of parasites. Those need to be addressed, but a skin and bones cat needs a safe medication from the vet, not an over the counter one which may actually end up making a debilitated cat very ill.
Next of course is feeding her. She needs the nourishment of real meat – and fed frequent small meals so she doesn’t gorge herself and make herself sick. A good quality canned food is best for her – most grocery store dry foods are nothing but corn and cheap fillers, and it’s meat that will make her healthy again (Nature created the cat to eat meat, not corn and grains). It can take a month or more for her to be looking good. Any health issues need to be resolved or she won’t put on the weight she needs, though.
Vet visit, and proper diet – she’ll be a different cat soon!
Gradually is the word here.. take her to the vet for a check, she could have picked up worms out side, the vet will check this. They also could tell her how old about she is. If she is young, you may want her on kitten food a while it is high calorie and nutritious but if she is old this would not be the best. God bless you ( and HE will) for caring for this kitty. The last skinny cat I rescued took at least a few weeks before you saw muscle on him, but he started filling out in a couple weeks of good eating. Make sure she has a couple dishes of cold fresh water around the house, She could also be dehdrated especially if its been hot where you are. It would be best not to overstuff her, her stomach has shrunk if she was starving. Small frequent feedings are better. You will feel so good as you see her blossom… Thank you for your kindness….also remember cats drink mostly at night they are nocturnal animals, so if you do not happen to catch her drinking always have the water around anyway…Sorry to repeat if you already know this stuff… :O)
I recommend feeding her a raw homemade cat food. I took in a cat that was skinny, like her. Now, three weeks later, she has a belly. She ate around 1/4 pound of pure meat a day. Even if you only do this until you feel she is a good weight, it is a good way to get her weighing a good amount.
I get whole chickens that last four kittens and two adult cats about 6 days, and it costs 6 dollars a chicken at a local discount store. I feed them all different kinds of meat, but that should give you an idea of cost.
It really is best to get her to the vet first, like everyone here is saying. I took in a very skinny stray one night (he was full grown) and he ate ravenously — about two cans of wet food in a half hour. Anyway, I took him to the vet the next day and they discovered feline HIV (don’t worry, not the same as human HIV and not contagious to humans either). In his case, he had to be put to sleep. Your cat may be different but it is worth it to know for sure what diseases they might have, especially if you have other pets who could become infected.
That said, the vet could tell you what the best foods are for her, as well as her approximate age. If she is a kitten, she will need kitten food. Once full grown, she will spit up the kitten food though, so you will then need to switch her to adult formulas. Personally, I think it is best to stick with canned foods due to high water content. Dry foods are not best for cats because they don’t usually drink much water. Try to get a grain-free can food regimen going because foods with grains and starches can result in struvite bladder stones in cats. Some brands to look for are Wellness (my cat’s fav), Evo, Tiki Cat, Blue Wilderness(this one can be found at Pet Smart, I think). Cats are carnivores, so look for high protein foods without additives. They need taurine, B-6, and B-12, so a diet of table scraps won’t cut it. A little cod liver oil is also good for kitties. Don’t forget to leave her clean water at all times! All that with a lil lovin’ and she should reach her full potential in 3-4 months.
Oh, and, some cats are allergic to plastic. If fed from plastic bowls they will get what is called feline acne. Best to stick with ceramic and metal.
Yes, high quality canned food is best. You can also leave out some high quality dry food. Check the label and make sure there’s no corn, wheat, or by-products. Not likely to be available at the grocery store – check the pet store or the feed store. Go slowly, don’t let her eat as much as she wants off the bat. Gaining too much weight too quickly is hard on their little bodies. Follow the recommendations on the can/bag for her weight and add a little bit to that. Divide into two or three small meals a day. In a week, maybe two, you should notice she’s slightly less skin & bones. It will probably take a month or two to put on the weight she needs at a healthy rate.